A Baltimore jury on Monday ordered Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and its subsidiaries to pay over $1.5 billion to a woman, who claimed that decades of exposure to asbestos in the company’s talc-based products caused her peritoneal mesothelioma, a form of cancer.
Jurors in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Monday awarded Cherie Craft, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2024, $59.84 million in compensatory damages, with punitive damages of $1 billion against J&J and $500 million against Pecos River Talc, a J&J subsidiary.
This decision marks the largest-ever sum awarded against J&J for a single plaintiff, according to Craft’s lawyers at Dean Omar Branham Shirley LLP. The prior record was held by the firm’s prior Los Angeles verdict on behalf of the family of Mae Moore, in which a jury awarded $966 million in damages.
The ruling comes after a California jury awarded $40 million to two women earlier in December for similar claims.
See also: Why a Minnesota Jury Ordered Johnson & Johnson To Pay $65.5 Million in Damages
Record Verdict Highlights Legal Peril
J&J could not be reached for comment outside office hours. However, according to a Reuters report, the New Brunswick-based company plans to appeal the verdict, with Erik Haas, the company’s worldwide vice president of litigation, labeling the ruling as “egregious” and “patently unconstitutional.”
J&J has faced lawsuits from more than 67,000 plaintiffs who claim they were diagnosed with cancer after using its baby powder and other talc products.
The company has denied these claims and previously sought to resolve the litigation through a proposed bankruptcy settlement, which the courts rejected.
The Maryland verdict adds to a series of large awards against J&J in talc cases, though many have been reduced or overturned on appeal. J&J has set aside billions for litigation costs and settlements as it continues to fight claims in courts across the country.
The company has previously said its products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer. J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the U.S. in 2020, switching to a corn-starch product.
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